Contact: John Hartgen
(703) 739-0800
color='#0000ff'>jhartgen@abiworld.org
TOTAL
BANKRUPTCY FILINGS UP 33 PERCENT IN THIRD QUARTER
size='3'>November 25, 2009 Alexandria, Va.—
size='3'>The 388,485 total U.S. bankruptcies filed during the third
quarter of 2009 (July 1 – Sept. 30) represented a 33 percent
increase over the 292,291 cases filed over the same period in 2008,
according to data released today by the Administrative Office of the
U.S. Courts. Total filings for the first nine months of 2009 (Jan. 1
– Sept. 30) were up 35 percent to 1,100,035, compared to the
814,496 filings during the same period in 2008. Bankruptcies are at the
highest level since the 2005 amendments to the Bankruptcy
Code.
“The spike in
bankruptcy filings for both consumers and businesses reflects the
continuing effects of today’s weak economy,” said ABI
Executive Director
size='3'>Samuel J. Gerdano. “With
unemployment surpassing 10 percent and credit to businesses remaining
tight, consumers and businesses are increasingly turning to the
financial relief of bankruptcy.”
The 45,510 business
bankruptcies recorded during the first three quarters of 2009 (Jan. 1
– Sept. 30) have eclipsed the full year 2008 (Jan. 1- Dec. 31)
business filing total of 43,546. Business filings during the three-month
period ending Sept. 30, 2009, totaled 15,177 filings, up 32 percent over
the 11,504 business filings in 2008. Chapter 11 business filings rose to
3,060 during the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 23 percent over
the 2,485 filings during the similar period in 2008. Chapter 7 business
filings also increased to 10,798during the three-month period ending
Sept. 30, 2009, representing a 36 percent spike over the 7,927 filings
during the same period in 2008.
Consumer filings totaled
373,308 during the third quarter of 2009 (July 1-Sept. 30), representing
a 33 percent increase over the 280,787 filed during the same period of
2008. Consumer chapter 7 filings during the 2009 third quarter totaled
265,721, an increase of 42 percent over the 2008 third quarter total of
187,227. Chapter 13 consumer filings also increased during the
three-month period ending Sept. 30, 2009, with the 107,142filings,
representing an 15 percent increase over the 93,333 filings during the
same period in 2008.
The 1,402,816 total filings for
the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2009, were up more than 34 percent
from the same period in 2008, which totaled 1,042,993. The bankruptcy
filing rate per thousand U.S. residents totaled 4.52 for all chapters
during the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2009, as 3.19 Americans per
thousand filed for chapter 7 while 1.28 per thousand filed for chapter
13 bankruptcy, all increases from the similar period a year ago. Nevada
was the state with the highest per capita filing rate in the country,
with 10.49 residents per thousand filing in all chapters, and also had
the highest per capita filing rate for chapter 7 filings at 7.53. The
state with the highest per capita filing rate for chapter 13 bankruptcy
was Tennessee at 4.36 per thousand for the 12-month period ended Sept.
30, 2009.
Nonbusiness filings for the
12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2009, totaled 1,344,095, an increase of
34 percent from the 1,004,342 total nonbusiness filings calculated over
the same period in 2008. Business filings for the 12-month period ending
Sept. 30, 2009, totaled 58,721, up 52 percent from the 38,651 bankruptcy
petitions filed in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2008.
The 989, 227 total chapter 7
filings for the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2009, represent a 45
percent increase from the 679,982 filings from the same period in 2008.
Chapter 11 filings also increased, rising 68 percent to 14,745 in 2009
from 8,799 in 2008. Total chapter 13 filings increased 13 percent to
398,210 in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2009, from 353,828 in
the same period last year. Chapter 12 filings also increased 47 percent
from 332 in 2008 to 487.
size='3'>BUSINESS FILINGS for the 3-month
period ending Sept. 30, 2009, totaled 15,177, up 32 percent from the
11,504 bankruptcy business cases filed in the same period in
2008. NON-BUSINESS
FILINGS for the 3-month period ending Sept.
30, 2009, increased 33 percent from 280,787 in 2008 to 373,308 in
2009.
The chapter* breakdown
of BUSINESS
filings for the 3-month period ending Sept. 30, 2009, is:
10,798 chapter 7s, 3,060 chapter 11s, 155 chapter 12s and 1,147 chapter
13s.
The chapter breakdown
of
size='3'>NON-BUSINESS filings for the 3-month
period ending Sept. 30, 2009, is: 265,721 chapter 7s, 445 chapter 11s
and 101,142 chapter 13s.
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education on matters related to insolvency. ABI was founded in 1982 to
provide Congress and the public with unbiased analysis of bankruptcy
issues. The ABI membership includes more than 12,400 attorneys,
accountants, bankers, judges, professors, lenders, turnaround
specialists and other bankruptcy professionals providing a forum for the
exchange of ideas and information. For additional information on ABI,
visit www.abiworld.org. For additional conference information,
visit
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